In many surveillance situations, being able to effectively magnify an image to reveal specific details is a necessity. Often, the small details that are picked up by a security camera are the most important; in criminal prosecution cases, for example, obtaining clear pictures of faces and clothing can affect the course of justice.

It is a common assumption that the higher the zoom factor of a lens, the better its ability to magnify a scene and make details more visible. This is not always true. In the world of security cameras, 18x zoom can be equal to 36x. More specifically, a high-resolution security camera with 18x optical zoom can provide images that, for surveillance purposes, are just as, or even more useful than those delivered by a standard resolution, 4CIF camera with twice the zoom capability.